Rise From Eight Hundred

The battle on Hill No. 13 lasted no more than half an hour, and eventually became the battlefield with the highest casualty rate of the 231st Infantry Regiment.

According to the battle report captured by the 231st Infantry Regiment after the war, the imperial officers and soldiers commanded by Major Yoshizo Sano against Hill No. 13 were as high as 860 infantrymen. If the heavy machine gun squadron and artillery are included, the total force reached 1,280 people.

The casualties counted that night included more than 640 infantrymen killed in the battle on Hill No. 13 by Yoshizo Sano alone, and more than 60 artillery and machine gunners. 700 deaths would be fine, but there were nearly 300 seriously injured soldiers, which means that the 231st Infantry Regiment suffered thousands of casualties in the attack on Hill No. 13 alone.

This is not the highest casualty that the 231st Infantry Regiment has ever suffered since entering China. In the Zaoyi Battle, the 231st Infantry Regiment suffered nearly 1,500 casualties, which was also a heavy blow, but who was their opponent at that time? It was an infantry division of the 33rd Army Group plus a guard battalion of the Army Group Command.

But what about now? It was just a small hill with no more than 100 soldiers stationed on the Chinese defense line. What do you think Masayoshi Yamada felt when he saw this number of casualties?

If he knew that there were only 37 Chinese officers and soldiers on Hill No. 13 that day, including a second lieutenant deputy platoon leader, and after a day of fierce fighting, only 4 people died and 8 people were injured. If we have to talk about the casualty ratio, the ratio between China and Japan is 1 to 80. Wouldn’t this Japanese Army colonel be so angry that he vomited blood on the spot?

In fact, Masayoshi Yamada had already vomited blood.

Because on this day, the total casualties of the 231st Infantry Regiment were as high as more than 2,800, almost accounting for one-third of the main force of the division he led.

At other times, Masayoshi Yamada would have to run away after vomiting blood. The loss of more than 30% in one day, does that mean that after two more days of fighting, his main force of 7,000 to 8,000 people will be left with only him as the commander?

But the depressed Japanese army colonel could not only not run away, but also had to continue to participate in tomorrow's attack at the risk of becoming a commander without troops.

"Mr. Yamada, the characteristics of the army you mentioned are most likely the so-called German-equipped division that the German idiots helped the Chinese to train before the war. What does that mean? It means that the Chinese have given their all. As long as they can kill this elite Chinese army in this mountain, the Chinese no longer have an army that can compete with the imperial army.

You have to cheer up. Even if we give our all to drag them in this mountain and prevent them from supporting the already precarious front defense zone, my division will have done a great job.

In addition, the empire is doing its best to explore the intelligence you want, and there will be news within the next two days." Murakami Qisaku desperately encouraged his trusted subordinates in the telegram.

Although the casualties of Masayoshi Yamada's troops were unprecedentedly heavy, the 9,000 troops led by him personally achieved a breakthrough on the central battlefield of Shipai, and had completely broken through the first line of defense of the 11th Division. In addition, on the right wing battlefield, through cooperation with the naval aviation, an elite infantry regiment of the 18th Division of the 18th Army of China was completely defeated.

In other words, in the several battlefields where Shipai is now fighting fiercely, there has been no progress except for the heavy casualties on the left wing, but from the other two directions, there have been achievements. From the perspective of the overall situation, the flaws do not outweigh the merits.

What Masayoshi Yamada's troops have to do now is to hold back the elite troops of the Chinese on the left wing battlefield and prevent them from supporting the central position.

The so-called waiting for the flowers to bloom is just like this.

Of course, if you want to hold back these Chinese elites who beat the 231st Infantry Regiment, it is not enough to just station troops on the side of the defense line, but you still have to attack and continue to attack.

Use your life to hold back!

Masayoshi Yamada really wants to cry!

He didn't know how long he had studied the topographic map of Shipai. The so-called breakthrough in the central position and the right wing mentioned by the division commander was actually several mountains away from the core of the Chinese position. Obviously, it was not something that could be conquered in a day or two, especially since the defenders were the 18th Army, one of the five elite infantry armies of China.

Murakami Kisaku was definitely painting a pie in the sky! It depends on whether he lives to eat this pie.

In fact, Lieutenant General Murakami Kisaku was also helpless, because Lieutenant General Yokoyama Isamu, the commander of the 11th Army who came to Yiling, was also painting a pie in the sky for him, and strictly ordered him not to order anyone to retreat.

Standing in the courtyard of the temporary headquarters, the short-legged Japanese Army Lieutenant General with a face full of flesh and looking up at the stars had a cold face, because he knew too well the importance of this battle to the entire empire.

The strategic focus of the empire has shifted, and the army is preparing to attack Southeast Asia. In less than half a year, a large number of elite divisions will be transferred from the Chinese theater to the Southeast Asian battlefield, and those who will replace them will be Type B and Type C divisions that have been trained for less than half a year.

The navy is even more daring. It is no longer satisfied with dominating the inland seas such as the East China Sea and the South China Sea. They have set their sights on the vast Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.

The eyes of the empire's top leaders are no longer limited to the land of East Asia, but overlooking the entire Asia.

Once this grand strategic goal is achieved, the island nation will take off completely, and their descendants will no longer live in a corner, but will become the rulers of the world's largest continent.

What glorious Chinese civilization, what resource-rich Southeast Asian countries, everything will become the past, and all history will be written by the island nation. Hundreds of years later, those slaves will only know that their masters are the Yamato people.

Before these grand strategic goals are achieved, what these generals have to do is to resolve the Chinese resistance first.

Once Shipai is broken, the gateway to Sichuan Province, the most important logistics base for the Chinese at present, will be completely opened.

With such a wonderful prospect, what's the big deal about the death of thousands or tens of thousands of people? Their death in battle will create a better and happier life for tens of millions of future generations.

To some extent, the notorious Lieutenant General Yokoyama Yong is actually an idealist, willing to go through fire and water for the imagined beauty of the future.

Of course, it was his grassroots officers and soldiers who jumped into the boiling water and volcano, not him.

On another level, Yokoyama Isamu also had his own plans. The former commander of the 11th Army, Okamura Koji, had been transferred to the commander of the North China Front Army and promoted to general. His successor had launched two Tanzhou battles in the past year but both failed. Although the opponent was strong and he admired the Chinese general Xue, there were many people in the headquarters who had complaints about his command ability. Even if it was not for his future, just to gain a foothold in the position of commander of the 11th Army, he had to make achievements in the battle of Shipai.

Even if the 39th Division, the 13th Division, the Nogou Detachment, etc. were all killed, Shipai had to be conquered in this battle. This was the original words of the telegram sent by Yokoyama Isamu to Murakami Kisaku.

Little did they know that the Chinese Military and Political Department also sent similar telegrams to the general commanders of the two major Chinese war zones.

Even if the 70,000 troops in the mountains were killed, Shipai had to be defended.

For this reason, the headquarters of the two lieutenant generals of the 18th Army were basically less than 3 kilometers away from the front line.

The will of the highest commanders on both sides has determined that no matter success or failure, the Chinese and Japanese soldiers must shed their last drop of blood in this mountain!

The battlefield known as Shipai No. 2 Meat Grinder is not Zhujiaping, where nearly 3,000 Japanese soldiers were killed in one day.

It is Sifangwan, which is guarded by the first battalion.

On the third day, the Japanese army captured several local villagers in a cave through reconnaissance scouts. Under the threat of life, they finally forced out that there is a mountain road 4 kilometers away from the flank of Zhujiaping, which can bypass Zhujiaping and reach Shipai directly.

This is also one of the reasons why Murakami insisted that the main force of his 39th Division was still on the front line.

The 231st Regiment fought fiercely in Zhujiaping, the Nogou Detachment was blocked by the Chinese position in Niuchangpo, and the 40th Division was fighting hard with the 18th Division on the right wing. The only one who can complete this task is the Jingu Detachment.

The so-called detachment is composed of infantry battalions, cavalry, artillery, engineering, and logistics. Although the detachment is only a brigade-level organization, it actually has a full range of arms and its overall combat capability is stronger than many infantry brigades.

For example, the Jingu Detachment is composed of the main force of the 34th Division. It has 3 infantry battalions, 1 independent infantry battalion, 2 mountain artillery battalions, 3 logistics squadrons, 2 cavalry squadrons, 2 engineering squadrons, plus field medical teams, etc., with a total force of more than 7,000 people, fully qualified to compete with two Chinese Type B divisions.

Yokoyama Yong placed high hopes on the Jingu Detachment. Taking advantage of the fierce battles in Zhujiaping and Niuchangpo, the Jingu Detachment, which quietly gathered in the mountains, quietly bypassed Zhujiaping and went straight to the main position of Shipai.

It stands to reason that Tang Dao had long known that there was such a road on the flank of Zhujiaping. In the past, the Japanese army almost broke through the Sifangwan position from here and approached Shipai. How could he make the same mistake again?

But this time Tang Dao seemed to do nothing, allowing 7,000 Japanese troops to spend a day marching to Sifangwan. There was no ambush or mine attack, and the Japanese army, who had been defending all the way, arrived at the position intact.

That's because Tang Dao's appetite is much bigger than the highest commanders of China and Japan imagined.

The strategic level of Yokoyama Yong launching the Battle of Shipai is to capture the East Gate of the Chinese capital, and the tactical level is to kill the Chinese elite in this mountain as much as possible, paving the way for his future attack on Tanzhou.

The Chinese Military and Political Department is simpler. For the safety of the southwest, it will do whatever it takes!

And Tang Dao's plan is to bury more Japanese troops in the pit on the left wing of Shipai, a Chinese-shaped battlefield.

Tang Dao didn't take the thousands of people in the 39th Division seriously, and they were not enough to satisfy Tang Tuanzuo's appetite.

One of the 231st and 232nd Infantry Regiments was killed, and the other was seriously injured. In Tang Dao's eyes, although the 231st Infantry Regiment still had four or five thousand people, most of the elite infantry had been consumed, and the rest were just some second-line soldiers to make up the numbers. The combat effectiveness was already less than half of the previous one, and it was almost the same as dying people.

After three days of fierce fighting, the Yegou Detachment relied on its so-called steel army background and rushed and attacked fiercely. It was also hit with blood all over its face. It was like a toothless tiger. It was okay to roar twice. If it really wanted to fight, the 18th Army Temporary 6th Division, which had been eyeing them, would probably beat them to death.

Tang Dao had already set his sights on the Jingu Detachment, which arrived at the battlefield last.

This detachment was not a good thing. In 1943, it was this detachment that led to the shocking Changjiao Massacre.

In North China, because of the existence of the 80th Army, the Japanese army did not dare to enter the countryside unless they were sweeping at the brigade or division level, and large-scale massacres were rare.

But on the battlefields of Central and South China, facing the fierce resistance of the Chinese army and civilians, the Japanese army still attempted to destroy the will of the Chinese army and civilians through massacres, and large-scale massacres occurred repeatedly.

The Changjiao Massacre was another large-scale massacre that shocked China and the world after the Nanjing Massacre.

The total number of Chinese soldiers and civilians massacred exceeded 30,000. In the Dian'an Ya River, where the most and most tragic killings took place, the bodies piled up like a mountain, because the Japanese army threw more than 4,000 people who were massacred into the river. The 5-kilometer-long and 200-meter-wide river section could not flow, and was blocked, turning it into a "River of the Dead".

As long as you are Chinese, it is difficult to see the details of this massacre, and it was under the leadership of its detachment leader, Yiyuan Jingu, that the Jingu Detachment became such a group of beasts.

You say, how could Tang Dao let such a beastly army leave here alive? Not even a dog must be left.

In order not to disturb the 7,000 Japanese troops, so as not to let them get into this big pocket, Tang Dao withdrew the two infantry companies that were originally ambushed on two high grounds, and almost "welcomed" the Jingu Detachment into the mountains.

The Jingu Detachment was extremely arrogant. They arrived at 4 pm, but they didn't even dig field trenches. When it was almost dusk, they launched an attack on the 1st Battalion Highland under the cover of bombing by 12 Japanese planes.

This may not be an impatience to capture the position, but mainly to test the garrison strength on the highland and the distribution of heavy firepower points. However, it can also be seen that Major General Jingu was eager to make merit and wanted to launch a general attack in the early morning of the next day to capture the Sifangwan position in one fell swoop.

But he obviously thought too much.

At the Niuchangpo and Zhujiaping positions, the Japanese army had basically figured out the Chinese side's bottom card. There were roughly a dozen light tanks and less than ten large-caliber heavy mortars, as well as some anti-aircraft guns. The rest were solid fortifications and fierce light weapons.

But that was only the battalion's heavy firepower that Tang Tuanzuo showed them. The 8 Type 41 mountain guns and 4 Bofors mountain guns belonging to the artillery battalion of the Fourth Regiment had not fired a single shot since the start of the war.

The Jingu Detachment was so arrogant that they didn't even dig simple trenches in the field, but attacked the high ground aggressively. It was really a somersault on the back of a tiger - it was courting death!

"Aim at the Japanese baggage soldiers first, let the dogs chew the bark for me first!" Pang Dahai selected the baggage troops with the weakest combat effectiveness but extremely important from the coordinates of the various Japanese troops reported by the reconnaissance company.

Pang Dahai's move was vicious!

The Japanese ammunition, rice for people, and fodder for horses were all in the hands of the 1800 baggage soldiers of the three baggage squadrons.

Before entering the mountains, the Japanese army prepared ten days of military rations. According to the Japanese army's daily supply standards for a single soldier, 640 grams of rice, 200 grams of noodles, and 150 grams of canned meat, which alone was 1 kilogram, and 7,000 people in ten days was a full 70 tons.

Excluding some of the supplies carried by individual Japanese soldiers, there were still 60 tons of food supplies carried by 1,800 baggage soldiers and about 900 pack horses.

The food was blown up, and it would be strange if the Japanese army, which needed 7 tons of food every day, didn't explode.

12 mountain guns were pulled out from their hidden gun positions, and the muzzles flashed with a faint blue luster under the setting sun.

The shells fired by 4 Bofors were incendiary bombs, and the shells fired by 8 Type 41 mountain guns were blooming grenades. Pang Dahai was planning to blow up the food bags, which was not perfect enough. What if the Japanese picked up the rice from the dust? Just set a fire and burn it.

If the Japanese chewed and swallowed the coke to fill their stomachs, Pang Dahai could only call them "ruthless people"!

The bombardment of the 12 mountain guns was earth-shaking, and directly deceived the entire Hariya Detachment, which was still attacking the high ground.

Why didn't the Chinese artillery attack them, but attacked the mountain nest behind them?

Perhaps only the senior commanders such as Yiyuan Jingu were horrified. The Chinese were trying to cut off the firewood from under the cauldron!

The Japanese army still had 12 fighter planes in the sky, but just now they had dropped all the bombs to help the infantry. If they dropped more bombs, they would only turn themselves into a pile of flesh and blood and fall down.

As for asking them to lower their altitude and use the machine guns on board to help the army, that was unless they were crazy.

Their colleagues reminded them with their lives that there were large and small caliber anti-aircraft guns hidden in these broken mountain gullies. Not firing at this time did not mean that they would lower their altitude and not fire.

The 12 Japanese planes that completed the combat mission did not even circle, but flew straight into the sky.

Only a group of officers of the Jingu Detachment looked at the mountain col 3 kilometers away with smoke and flames rising to the sky with gloomy faces.

Hopefully, the Chinese artillery just relied on luck and hit the station of the baggage squadron.

But as time went on, the Chinese artillery continued to fire, firing at least 15 rounds of shells. Yiyuan Jingu knew that this was the Chinese's deliberate work.

His current wish was that the baggage squadron was smart enough to move positions immediately after the shelling began, so that the loss of food and ammunition would not be too much, even if he could leave him with 3 days of use.

Major Jingu's prayers were in vain.

When night fell, the lieutenant colonel chief of staff reported to him with a bitter face, and Yiyuan Jingu looked sluggish.

The Chinese artillery was not only fierce, but also terrifyingly accurate.

Three baggage squadrons lost 308 people and 489 horses, which was nothing. The most important thing was that the loss of military rations was as high as 70%, because there were incendiary bombs, and less than 10% of the food that fell on the ground could be salvaged.

This meant that after 3 days, his Jingu detachment would have to rely on the northwest wind.

"Order the baggage squadron to collect the dead horses. It's ridiculous that the Chinese want to use this trick to lower the morale of our troops. Tomorrow we will make them pay for their short-sightedness!" Jingu Yiyuan, who is worthy of being a general, quickly calmed down and said with a fierce look in his eyes.

Since we can only eat for three days, we can take this place in one day and Shipai in two days to end this battle.

Moreover, there are nearly 500 dead horses and hundreds of thousands of pounds of horse meat, which will not rot in the cold winter, enough for 7,000 people to eat for a week.

However, in the early morning of the next day, when the Jingu detachment had just finished cooking, a new blow came.

This made poor Major General Jingu autistic.